The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights has called for an international investigation into human rights abuses in North Korea, labelling the situation as “deplorable”.

In a statement released earlier on Monday, Pillay said,

“There were some initial hopes that the advent of a new leader might bring about some positive change in the human rights situation in DPRK. But a year after Kim Jong Un became the country’s new supreme leader, we see almost no sign of improvement.”

She went on to talk about the country’s nuclear programme, stating,

“I am also concerned that, at the international level, the spotlight is almost exclusively focused on DPRK’s nuclear programme and rocket launches. While these, of course, are issues of enormous importance, they should not be allowed to overshadow the deplorable human rights situation in DPRK, which in one way or another affects almost the entire population and has no parallel anywhere else in the world.”

Citing issues such as North Korea’s political prison camps, Pillay also added,

“We have only had glimpses of this terrible system from those who do succeed in getting out, but what we do know should compel the international community to action.”

“For this reason, I believe it is time the international community took a much firmer step towards finding the truth and applying serious pressure to bring about change for this beleaguered, subjugated population of 20 million people.”

“For years now, the Government of DPRK has persistently refused to cooperate with successive Special Rapporteurs on the situation of human rights in the DPRK appointed by the Human Rights Council, or with my Office,”

“For this reason, and because of the enduring gravity of the situation, I believe an in-depth inquiry into one of the worst – but least understood and reported – human rights situations in the world is not only fully justified, but long overdue.”

See the full statement here.